The MEC of Economic Opportunities David Maynier has welcomed the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the whole of South Africa will be moving to Alert Level 2.

He says the province is ready to open safely and ready to start doing business again in the Western Cape.

During lockdown, together with Wesgro, the province ran the “One Day” campaign to support the tourism industry in the Western Cape and also remind people that one day Cape Town and the Western Cape will again be open for them to explore and experience.

With Level 2 now confirmed, they will launching a “We Are Open” domestic tourism campaign in September to encourage all to explore the Western Cape.

This campaign will also include a “Kids Stay Free” initiative to encourage families to take advantage of the offers for children to stay free at participating travel and accommodation partners across the Western Cape.

“We must remain vigilant in maintaining these safety guidelines, and so, we will also be launching our #StaySafeSaveJobs campaign to remind businesses about the many tools and resources we have available to assist them to ensure that businesses can stay safe, that they stay open and that together we can save jobs in the Western Cape.

Times have been tough for businesses and people in the province who have had to make many sacrifices to allow us to prepare our healthcare system to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the Western Cape. We all pulled together, and we worked together to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the Western Cape.

That fight is not yet over, but we now also face a daunting unemployment pandemic, hunger and increased levels of poverty in the Western Cape. And so, in order to overcome this second pandemic, we will all have to continue pulling together, and working together as we did before.”